Hawai’i cruises to sixth straight win in smile-loaded Beeman’s Big Bash

HONOLULU – They still aren’t quite totally sure of the origins of the “6-7” meme, but the University of Hawai’i women’s basketball coaching staff understood the gravity of the situation down the stretch on Saturday night.

The Rainbow Wahine had been stuck at 65 points since the 3:18 mark of the fourth quarter, missing three separate chances to tick to the number that has become a viral sensation across all age groups.

With a 21-point lead already in hand and the shot clock turned off, the hosts would have been well within their rights to stop playing hard as the final 30 seconds ticked away in a blowout win against Long Beach State (3-18, 2-9 Big West).

Instead, Hawai’i (11-9, 6-5 Big West) played to the favor of the season-high 2,792 fans in the house for the third annual “Beeman’s Big Bash” game and saw sophomore guard Rebecca Moors deny LBSU’s Kennan Ka’s layup try, senior Izzy Forsyth grab the rebound and pitch it ahead to a sprinting Ella Collins as the clock ticked under 15 seconds. The freshman guard hustled to the hoop to score the final points of the night, securing a 67-44 win over the Beach and delighting a keiki-heavy crew of fans that had been hoping to hit the mark.

“It’s a big thing, the 6-7 is a big thing,” head coach Laura Beeman said chuckling after the sixth consecutive victory by the Rainbow Wahine. “No disrespect to Long Beach for scoring a layup like that when we’re up by so much, but if we wouldn’t have [gotten 67], I think the fans would’ve come on the floor and maybe attacked us.”

Playing in front of the most raucous crowd of the season, the Rainbow Wahine started slowly as they watched the visitors from Long Beach come out firing to take an early 10-6 lead. Hawai’i would respond with an 8-0 run behind a few frontcourt contributors in Ritorya Tamilo, Imani Perez and Kyra Webb, but LBSU scored the final seven points of the first quarter with the help of the hot hand of JaQuoia Jones-Brown to take a 17-14 lead over the hosts after 10 minutes.

Hawai’i opened the second quarter with seven straight points of their own, forcing a timeout from the Beach just over three minutes after play resumed. LBSU’s Khylee Pepe finally snapped the scoring drought for the visitors with a pair of free throws with 4:48 left in the half, but a left-handed layup by Jovi Lefotu followed by a corner triple from Izzy Forsyth helped spark an 11-3 Rainbow Wahine response to go up by 10 going into the break.

Long Beach State made just 1-of-8 attempts from the floor in the second quarter after shooting 54% in the opening 10 minutes, scoring more points from free throws (3) than from attempts during live action (2).

The visitors found the offensive touch again to begin the third quarter, scoring the first nine points and forcing a timeout by Hawai’i to settle down as the host’s offense turned it over twice and missed a layup and open 3-point try after play started back up.

“I thought the first half, we were sticky with the ball and took some really bad shots,” Beeman said. “Third quarter, it started that way again. [We] called a quick timeout, just to remind them of who they were and what they needed to do.”

Keiara Curtis helped sparked the Rainbow Wahine out of the timeout, sandwiching an Imani Perez and-one with a pair of buckets, including her second 3-pointer of the night, to help get back on track and some breathing room for UH.

Hawai’i would continue the offensive onslaught from there, closing the quarter on an extended 13-1 run to take a 47-34 advantage into the final frame of the night.

“When we share the ball, we have weapons,” explained Beeman. “The more we share, the more we have weapons, the harder it is for people to stop us and defend us.”

The lead grew to 16 to begin the fourth behind a 3-pointer from Imani Perez and back-to-back buckets by Tee Bond and Saniyah Neverson. Jovi Lefotu’s and-one finish in transition and Perez’s second 3-pointer of the final frame pushed the Rainbow Wahine’s advantage over 20 with 3:18 to play and set the stage for the dramatic end in an otherwise fully decided result as they tried to reach 67 points.

After Collins’ layup dropped through, the season-high crowd on hand erupted with their biggest cheer of the night and the Hawai’i players shared chest bumps and ear-to-ear grins after the buzzer sounded on the 67-44 win.

Senior forward Imani Perez posted a team-high 15 points and knocked down a pair of triples in the win while towering sophomore Ritorya Tamilo turned in her best game of the season with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in 23 minutes off the bench.

“I think when Tori is confident, there’s not a lot of people who can stop what she does because she does things so seamlessly,” Beeman said of her 6-foot-5 center. “I think this was her best game [this season]. Maybe it wasn’t statistically, but the way she felt about how she played and that’s only going to compound in a great way for her.”

Keiara Curtis was the third Rainbow Wahine player to finish in double figures, scoring 10 points and dishing out three assists in the win. Jovi Lefotu provided a spark off the bench with nine points and a pair of steals in 14 minutes of work.

JaQuoia Jones-Brown scored a game-high 18 points in the loss for Long Beach State, also grabbing five rebounds while playing all 40 minutes against the Rainbow Wahine. Khylee Pepe tacked on 13 points and nine rebounds for the visitors but committed six turnovers and received a technical foul for slamming the ball after disagreeing with a call in the second quarter.

Hawai’i will look to turn six straight wins into seven when they return to action next Saturday, February 7 on the road against Big West leader UC San Diego. The Rainbow Wahine fell at home on January 3 against the Tritons, 65-54, but have won six of the seven contests since and hold the longest active win streak in the conference.